Paragon Days, Static Dreams
by ThatTheaterThug
Summary: An accident leads to the birth of the world's first superhero, and a little girl with the mind of a supercomputer struggles to make sense of the static in her head. The road ahead is uncertain, but Lisa and Lincoln are going to walk it together until the bloody end.
1. Lisa Loud's Last Experiment

It began on a normal June day, in a not so normal house in the suburbs of Royal Woods.

The Loud House was much quieter than in years past, owing to the absence of half of the siblings. Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, and Lynn had all moved out of the house one after the other and scattered to the four winds, leaving behind only six siblings to make up for the silence.

And they did a fine job of it, going by the noise coming from the living room.

Thirteen year olds Lola and Lana were currently arguing over whether to watch a beauty pageant or Monster Jam and wrestling for possession of the remote. Not much had changed in their dynamic except for the addition of a few swear words they picked up on the schoolyard.

"We always watch your stupid princess shows!" said Lana, giving a yank on the remote.

"This isn't any princess show, dumbass, it's the Miss Teen USA Pageant! It only happens once a year and I'm not missing it!" Lola yanked back.

"But the MonsterJam Finals are on right now!" Lana whined.

"I'm not missing my show for your shitty monster trucks!"

"Hey! Monster trucks aren't shitty!"

"Yes they are! Shitty shitty monster trucks!"

"Fuck you!" "No, fuck _you_!" "No, fuck _you_!"

Nearby sat the youngest Loud, Lily, with a disposable camera, giggling and snapping pictures of the teenage twins and their quickly escalating brawl. Every Loud had their talent, and it seemed the eight year old's was for photography. Lily never went anywhere without her trusty Kodak camera, and she was building up quite the portfolio of her family life.

* * *

Upstairs, away from the chaos of the living room, Lucy Loud sat alone in her room, nose buried in her black diary and writing another piece of morbid poetry. **_'Unknown is my pain-'_**

The goth paused and sighed. _What rhymes with pain? Drain, rain, gain, brain..._ Ah, she had it. She took her pen to paper again.

 _ **'Unknown is my pain. The terrible shadow, the dark stain.'**_

* * *

Next door, in the former storage closet, Lincoln Loud sat hunched over his desk scribbling down notes from a biology textbook.

After Lynn had left Lincoln was finally able to get his own room and boy did he enjoy it. His sisters never enjoyed the extra space to walk around, to store his clothes and comic book collection, to just _live_ in like he did. Recently, however, he was forced to move back into the old closet.

The hormonal twins were getting worse than ever. More fights, nastier fights, shouting and roughhousing with each other late into the night and eating up the family's sleep. Lincoln, ever the peacemaker, decided to sacrifice his new bedroom and give it to Lana so they wouldn't have to share anymore. He was happy to help, but he was happier to finally get some sleep.

Lincoln paused in his work and checked the clock, swearing under his breath. He had to be somewhere soon.

* * *

Which brings us to the room left of the stairs and left of the bathroom, Lori and Leni's old room, now under new management.

The current occupant had renovated the room completely, changing it from a modest bedroom into a laboratory that would make old Doctor Frankenstein proud.

Beaker filled shelves covered the walls, notes, blueprints, and tools lay scattered all over the floor, a mountain of spare parts filled the corner, and old inventions were spilling out of the closet. And in the center of it all knelt the mad scientist, welding together the last hinges of her latest menacing machine.

She lifted the welding helmet covering her face and coughed from the fumes. She reached into the pocket of her over-sized lab coat and withdrew a tape recorder, holding it to her mouth.

"Lisa's Log, Entry 5475. I've just completed the assembly of prototype QMH and now await test subject to...err, test it." her nose crinkled at the smell. "Odor produced by welding is unpleasant, recommend acquiring artificial fragrance to conceal it." Sniff. "Perhaps Febreze."

Lisa Loud ended the recording and sat on her cluttered bed with a sigh.

With construction complete now all she had to do was wait. Waiting...was uncomfortable, waiting forced her to think, to visual those mental blueprints and go over them, picking apart every last detail down to the smallest detail over and over again until she felt like a spike was being driven into her cerebrum. For the smartest eleven year old on the entire planet, inaction was enough to drive her mad.

Lisa did not like waiting, she liked doing. But here she was, forced to wait for her test subject to arrive. What could she think about besides the scientific minutiae of quantum energy? This particular machine she was working on today was the result of a recent trip to the movie theater. Ah, that should sufficiently occupy her thoughts.

* * *

One week ago Lisa elected to see the new Ace Savvy movie with Lincoln. Just as he was pulling out of the driveway in Vanzilla Lisa leapt on top of the windshield.

"Gah!" He screamed as the van lurched to a stop.  
"Brother." Lisa spoke with her face pressed up against the glass. "I heard you are going to see the new Ace Savvy movie. Please take me with you."

Lincoln rolled down the driver's window and stuck his head out. He looked at her, at a loss for words.  
He finally settled on "Uh, okay, sure. Get in." Lisa slid off the windshield and climbed into the passenger seat.

"You could have just called me. I would have turned around." Lincoln said.

"Distracted driving is the number one cause of car accidents." she retorted.

Vanzilla pulled back out and started off to the Royal Woods Cinema.

The genius sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Thank you for taking me along, brother." she said.

"No problem. I didn't know you liked superheroes, Lis." He made a right turn at the traffic light.

"I don't, but I'm currently lacking any experiments to keep me occupied." Lisa explained. "The film's premise sounds...interesting."

Lincoln shrugged and smiled. "Maybe this movie will make you a fan?"

* * *

The movie, 'Ace Savvy: Origins', told the story of how Detective Spade Nifty obtained superpowers after touching an alien artifact he found during an investigation into illegal arms dealing. Spade, under the pseudonym 'Ace Savvy', then proceeded to start fighting crime with his new superpowers and restoring truth and justice to Casino City. The writing was cliched, the effects were passable, and the _science_...

As the sibling duo walked out of the theater discussing superhero trivia, Lisa decided she made the right choice.

"So who created the extraterrestrial artifact from the beginning?" she queried Lincoln. Her brother was quite the expert in all things relating to comic books.

"That's explained in Ace Savvy vs the Cosmic Cabal, when the Gorbulans invade Earth. Rumor is they're adapting that story next." he said sagely.

"Hm. I think I'd like to see it." said Lisa.

They entered Vanzilla and took a second to relax. Lincoln looked over at her. "So...you liked the movie?"

Lisa nodded. "It was sufficiently entertaining, however I do have several problems with the 'science' of the film. For example-"

"Oh no." Lincoln covered his ears. "I'm not letting you ruin superheroes for me."

Lisa smiled.

* * *

She wasn't lying, she _did_ enjoy the film...just not in the same way Lincoln did.

Lisa enjoyed it the same way a food critic would enjoy dissecting what was wrong with a bad dish, she enjoyed picking apart everything wrong with the science behind the superpowers and theorizing possible solutions to make them actually work. That trip marked the start of the next in a series of experiments revolving around Science-Fiction she was conducting. It became almost a game for her, to take the greatest ideas of George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry and prove them to be completely and utterly impossible(or at the very least impractical).

Teleporter? Only feasible over a very short distance, and the energy requirements were astronomical(the local power grid was out of commission for two weeks following a test trial).

Lightsaber? Too bulky and heavy, very cumbersome to use. Also, had a tendency to explode.

Artificial Intelligence? Initially promising until it gained access to the internet. Instead of an increase in intelligence it actually suffered a two standard deviation decrease.

Faster Than Light Space Travel?...Still a work in progress. She didn't have the budget for those kinds of experiments.

Now: superpowers. Of course Lisa was aware of the concept and its popularity, but she never gave it sufficient thought until that trip to the cinema. It was put in the same mental space as magic or world peace; childish fantasy, nothing more. But now her attention was fixed squarely on this new field of fake science.

The question she had to answer was 'how could you actually give someone super powers?'

In the film, Ace Savvy gained superhuman abilities when he made contact with an extraterrestrial artifact, causing Ace's cells to be 'ionized with 10,000 REM of neutron radiation'. She didn't even need to conduct an experiment to know the idea was ridiculous. Neutron radiation was the most hazardous type to the human body, owing to its increased penetration compared to alpha and beta radiation. With 10,000 REM he should have experienced rapid cell degradation, organ failure, not to mention damage to cerebral blood vessels...

Ace Savvy should have been dead before he hit the floor.

Could there be another form of energy that could mimic the fictional effects of neutron radiation, i.e. give a subject superhuman abilities? There were many possibilities but some were impractical, many were dangerous, all were too expensive for her current shoestring budget. After a sleepless night of brainstorming the solution became obvious: quantum energy.

Lisa sat up from her bed and found herself absentmindedly running another diagnostic check on the QMH.

Quantum energy, that is the energy from the space between dimensions, was cheap and easy to access(she could tap into the multiverse with parts from common household appliances) and altered reality in strange, unpredictable ways. Therefore, if the human body were exposed to large amounts of quantum energy its DNA could theoretically mutate to grant superpowers!

But that was all in theory. Lisa could hypothesize what would happen until her brain started smoking but it would all be pointless if she couldn't conduct an experiment. This particular experiment required a human test subject.

Naturally, she chose Lincoln.

Lisa heard a knock on her door.

"Enter." she called over her shoulder as she ran another simulation on her computer. She turned to see the door opened and her only brother enter the lab. White hair, clear blue eyes, and a friendly smile. Lincoln was eighteen now, and despite the deeper voice, broad shoulders, and a substantial increase in height he was still the same goofy, honest dork he was when he was eleven.

He was always Lisa's go to test subject. Whenever she needed someone he'd instantly volunteer, no matter what he was doing he'd drop it all for her, a fact she greatly appreciated.

"Hey Lis." Lincoln greeted her. "You said you needed help with someth-" he paused, looking at the machine behind her.

"Lisa?"

"Yes, brother?"

"What did you do to the old fridge?"

The Quantum Molecular Harmonizer was fashioned out of a refrigerator, parts from several scavenged microwaves, and an old miniature dark matter reactor she had lying around. Not her highest quality invention, but with recent budget cuts(following the aforementioned town blackout, her parents showed her no financial mercy) she had to make do. By her estimations it wouldn't affect the experiment's results in any significant way.

She explained all of this and the goal of the experiment to Lincoln, who looked as bewildered as always. "You want to give me superpowers?"

"Yes." said Lisa, wincing at the harsh _shh_ sound of her 's'. Her lisp wasn't as bad as it was when she was four but she still slipped into it from time to time, especially with those damned s's.

Lincoln looked at the Quantum Molecular Harmonizer suspiciously.

"So...what do you need me to do?" He asked.

"Simply stand in the harmonizing chamber-" "You mean the fridge?" "-yes, the refrigerator, stand inside it and your deoxyribose nucleic acid will be exposed to large amounts of quantum energy, theoretically granting you superhuman abilities."

Lincoln blinked. "My what will what now?"

Lisa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She loved her family, really, she did, but their idiocy could be annoying sometimes.

"Stand in the fridge and I'll zap your DNA with super energy, which should give you superpowers." Lisa explained to him slowly.

"Oh, okay. Is it going to hurt?"

"No." She hesitated. "It shouldn't, in theory."

Lincoln shook his head and sighed. "Lisa." He knelt down to her eye level. _He's gotten so tall._

"Look, after what happened with the teleporter maybe we should take a break from experiments for a little bit." He said.

"Nonsense, I've taken steps to make ensure that type of incident won't happen again."

"Lisa…" Lincoln looked torn as to what to say. The little mad scientist was growing impatient. Why was he being so resistant? Shouldn't he be jumping at the chance to be like his hero?

"What's the issue? Don't you want to have superpowers?" she pressed him.

"Superpowers would be cool." Lincoln chuckled before growing serious again. "But with your track record maybe it's a little too dangerous. Mom and Dad don't like you doing human experiments for a reason."

"My track record?" Lisa felt like she was just slapped in the face. "The vast majority of my experiments are overwhelming successes."

"Really, Lis?" said Lincoln skeptically.

"Yes. Are you implying otherwise?" She crossed her arms and gave him a frigid look.

Lincoln shook his head, exasperated. "Do I have to list them?"

"Please do." Lisa said coldly.

Lincoln held up a finger. "Remember the time you made a weather machine that almost caused another Ice Age?"

"I didn't see you complaining about a whole month of snow days."

Lincoln snorted. "Okay, you got me there. What about when you contaminated the lake with growth hormones?" Up ticked another finger.

"The fish grew ten to twenty times larger, just as I intended. The fishermen should have been happy to catch such large fish."

"Happy? Lisa, the giant fish almost ate all of the fishermen! They had to bring in harpoons! _Harpoons_ , Lisa!"

"I fail to see your point."

Lincoln was starting to get visibly annoyed. "Trapping Lily on the moon?" he asked, three fingers up now.

"She volunteered to collect mineral samples, and anyone could have made that conversion error between liters and gallons when loading up the rocket fuel."

"If it wasn't for Elon Musk, NASA, and the Russians she would have been stuck up there!" Lincoln threw his arms up in frustration.

Lisa scoffed. "I kept telling everyone I could make another spacecraft, that it would only take a few hours, but _no_ , mother and father had to panic and call the government."

"The zombie outbreak?"

"Brief and easily contained."

"The space elevator?"

"That would have worked if I didn't run out of parts."

"The nuclear mousetrap?"

"Successfully exterminated the entire rodent population in the Cooper family's house."

"Because the explosion completely destroyed it! The FBI almost arrested you for nuclear terrorism!"

Lisa looked down at her feet. Okay, maybe she went a little too far on that one.

"Listen, Lisa." Lincoln grabbed her by the shoulders, firmly. "That's the problem. You do all of these experiments because you can, you never stop to think if you should. And when they backfire we all have to deal with the consequences. Why do you think no one else wants to be a test subject for you?"

That thought caused Lisa to freeze. No, that couldn't be it. But it made too much sense. Lucy would just ignore her, Lily and Lana would always politely decline and say they had something else to do, and Lola...

"T-that's not the case." she excused. "The others are simply preoccupied with other activities whenever I ask, that's all."

Her big brother stared at her for a few seconds, a far away expression on his face. Lisa didn't like it.

"You know I'm going to college soon, Lis, and I'm scared." he finally said.

Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. "You should not be afraid, according to your current grades you should perform well in your classes-" "Not about school." He shushed her. "I'm scared about you. I'm scared about what you're going to get up to when I'm not here to look after you."

"W-what do you mean?" Lisa stammered.

"What if something happens to you when I'm off at college?"

"What? Nothing would-"

"Come on, we both know how dangerous your experiments can be. If I wasn't there for some of them you might not be here right now."

He was right, he was always there for her. Ever since her first experiment at the age of two (0001: highly explosive concoction synthesized from common household chemicals) he was there by her side, helping her, protecting her from the dangers she created.

"You're right." Lisa admitted.

Lincoln leaned in closer, his voice growing quieter. "I need you to promise me something. No more experiments after I'm gone."

She gaped at him. "N-no more...b-but-" "I know it'll be tough for you, God, I know, but if anything goes wrong and I'm not here-" Lincoln's breath hitched, and his grip on her shoulders tightened.

"I could never forgive myself if that happened. So promise me, please." he finished.

Lisa was horrified by the idea. Promise to give up her greatest joy in life? That was like telling a bird not to fly, a painter not to paint, a cell not to undergo mitosis. To stop what made her Lisa Loud? And to have that maddening static haunting her for the next seven years? She couldn't possibly….

Lisa met Lincoln's eyes. Blue, so deeply _blue,_ and full of concern for her.

….she had to try. For her brother's sake. With an IQ over 300 she could easily find something else to do, she could suffer a few years without any experiments. After everything he did for her it was the least she could do.

"Very well. I promise to cease further experiments after your departure, brother." she said.

Lincoln exhaled, like he just had a great weight taken off his shoulders. There was that smile again. "Thanks." He pulled her in for a hug, which Lisa reciprocated. They held each other for a few seconds and parted.

An awkward silence filled the room before Lincoln sniffed the air and gagged, covering his nose.

"What's that smell?" he asked. "Welding fumes." answered Lisa simply.

"That can't be good for you, you should probably open a window or-" "Would you still like to assist me with this experiment?" she asked him suddenly.

Lincoln looked taken aback. "Seriously? After the deep talk we just had about why you shouldn't be doing these things anymore?" He seemed disappointed.

"The agreement we made begins once you leave for college, which will not take place until August 20th." Lisa pointed out.

Lincoln smiled slightly. "You got me there, but I can't right now, sorry. I really got to study for my finals next week." He stood up to leave before Lisa blocked his path. "Finals? Perhaps I can assist you with your studies in return for ten seconds of your time?"

Another smile, Lincoln shook his head again. "Thanks, but I should be fine on my own." He moved around her and started heading for the door.

 _No no no no no,_ why was he leaving? The experiment wasn't finished yet! If he left now the formulae and theories would keep buzzing around inside her head all night and she wouldn't get any sleep again.

The last time the urge was this bad was when the family went on a camping trip when she was was without any of her equipment in the middle of the forest when the inexplicable urge hit her to build a railgun. She didn't know why, but she just had to. The laws of motion and energy were visualized, variables, formulae, and blueprints swam in front of her eyes.

For two days and nights the static filled her head. She couldn't walk, couldn't talk, couldn't eat, couldn't even _breath_ without that damned static choking her. On the dawn of the third day she finally gave in and tried to construct a railgun out of wood. The results were...messy.

Lisa needed to do this, she need to do it **_right now._**

Lincoln started walking before she grabbed the back of his polo and stopped him with a small tug. He looked down at her confusedly.

" _Please_ , brother." Lisa said, gazing up at him with her bespectacled eyes. That was rare for her. She never liked to beg for anything, whether it be from her parents, her teachers, or her siblings. It was too embarrassing to lower herself to act like an actual powerless child.

For a second Lincoln wavered. "I don't think I should-" "Please..L-Lincoln." she had to have sounded desperate then. "I-I just need to test this _one_ theory. I just need to see if quantum energy has any effect on human DNA. It will only take ten seconds, _please_ ~?"

Lincoln looked torn. Lisa knew that if there was anything he hated more than the idea of getting his cells irradiated it was making his little sister cry.

"Alright, fine. Ten seconds." he relented.

"Yes!" Lisa cheered before schooling her features back into her usual neutral look. She cleared her throat and gestured to the repurposed fridge. "Enter the harmonization chamber, please."

Lincoln shook his head. "I feel manipulated." He bent down and climbed into the frid- er, the harmonization chamber. It was just like the inside of the old fridge, except without any shelves or food and with the walls covered in what looked like little white Christmas lights. Lincoln squinted at the harsh artificial light before Lisa closed the door, trapping him inside.

The little mad scientist returned to her computer and typed in a series of commands preparing the QMH for activation. She stopped before entering the final command and looked up at the chamber. "Ready, Lincoln?" Lisa called.

"Uh, yeah, ready!" came his muffled response.

Lisa nodded to herself. "Initiating quantum harmonization." She pressed enter.

The QMH hummed and started vibrating in place. Then after ten seconds, true to her word, it stopped. The door opened with a _ding_ and Lincoln tumbled out.

Lisa stood over him with a clipboard and pen. "Good, you weren't disintegrated."

"Disintegrated?!" Lincoln bolted up.

"Calm down, that was a joke. There was never any danger of disintegration." Only a 3.6666% chance, nothing statistically significant. "How do you feel?" she continued.

Lincoln slowly laid back down. "Fine, fine. It just tingled a little."

"Do you taste anything metallic?"

"Uh, no."

"Any ringing in your ears?"

"No."

"Are you experiencing any fatigue?"

"No. Actually, I feel pretty good. Like I just took a really nice nap." Lincoln yawned.

"Fascinating." she scribbled on her clipboard. Lisa finished and pointed to a weight set in the corner with her pen. "Let's test your physical capabilities." Lincoln went over and dragged the rack to the center of the room.

"Please lift the largest weight." Lisa gestured with her pen again. Lincoln read the label on the plate.

"That weighs a hundred pounds!" he protested.

"Yes. What better way to test to see if you have super strength?"

"Fine." the test subject grumbled and stooped down to pick it up. He grabbed the edges and struggled to lift before he let go. "I can't do it."

"Try again." Lisa urged him.

Lincoln sighed and stooped down again, putting his back into lifting the plate off the ground. He managed to lift it an inch off of the rack before dropping it with a clatter. "Phew. Nope, no super strength." Lincoln decided.

"Hmm." _Scratch scratch_ went her pen on the clipboard. "Perhaps you've manifested some other kind of power?"

A trip on the treadmill revealed no superspeed, the target dummy was left unharmed by any laser beams or fireballs, and a quick game of chess showed no superintelligence or psychic abilities. Lincoln was still a completely normal boy. He had no demonstrable superpowers whatsoever!

Lisa starting writing frantically. Where could she have gone wrong? The science was there, the theories were sound. It was pure quantum energy that Lincoln was exposed to, she controlled for any other variables- "Uh, Lisa?"

Quantum energy was too unpredictable in how it behaved. Maybe more trials would be needed? Would repeat exposure increase the chances of superhuman mutation? How else could she meas- "Lisa?"

She'd have to take several DNA samples for study, and maybe conduct some X-Rays. CAT-scans too? Perhaps a whole physical was called for? A bone marrow sample would- "Lisa!" Lincoln interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?" she said without looking at him.

"What's that sound?"

"Hm?" she finally looked up from her clipboard, hearing a small rumbling sound. A quick glance identified the source attached to the QMH, shaking violently.

"Oh, that's simply an old dark matter reactor. I repurposed it to work as...my...power...source." Lisa's eyes widened. In her haste to build the QMH she had forgotten the cardinal rule of cosmic energy science: never mix quantum energy with dark matter, because it causes **_weird shit_** to happen.

"That's not good." Lisa started to slowly back away. "I recommend a hasty-" The world exploded in pure light.

"LISA!" a silhouette grabbed her and shielded her from the blinding new dimension. And Lisa Loud dreamt of static.

* * *

Author's Note:

Here's a little something. I've never seen any good Lisacoln stories so I thought I'd give it a shot and mix it with a little bit of superheroism.

Leave a review if you like what you've read.

Next chapter should be up in the next week or two, but no promises. College comes first, sorry.


	2. Picking Up The Pieces

Lisa groaned at the familiar feeling of the stiff mattress on her back.

Based on the sterile smell, the I.V. in her arm, and the aforementioned uncomfortable bed, Lisa concluded she was in a hospital.

This wasn't her first stint in intensive treatment. Lisa's last visit was at the age of six, when she broke her leg testing a prototype rocket car. The doctors and nurses were sickly sweet to her, the food was revolting, and the bed felt like she was resting on a plank of wood. After that unpleasant experience Lisa took it upon herself to learn self care medical treatment, and so she never had to visit again. Until now.

Lisa squinted vainly at her surroundings, the world a blurry mess without her glasses. A white blur darted past her bed and sound started to trickle into existence. Whispers became talking became incomprehensible shouting. Lisa struggled to pick out any words. "Doctor!" she heard frequently called, along with 'accident', 'burns', and 'breathing'.

A heartbeat monitor started beeping rapidly. Hers? No, it was coming from across the room. "Get the sedative!" came a shout. Was someone screaming?

Lisa closed her eyes. It was all too much for her.

* * *

She slept, or so it seemed. Consciousness came in and out like the tide. Lisa woke up again, head pounding with a migraine.

The surrounding figures were now a variety of colors, pink and blue and black. Most of them lay far back draped against each other, and Lisa could faintly hear what sounded like snoring. Two of the figures were murmuring to each other, one green and one salmon, male and female.

"-we'll figure it out." Said the male. "Like we always do."

"We barely have anything in the bank." Replied the female.

"I'll get another job, I'll call in some favors, I'll take out a loan, I don't know. That doesn't matter right now."

Lisa squinted. Who was that speaking? Damn her short sightedness, she should finally get around to fixing her vision after this. It was just always a question of _how_ to fix it that stopped her. Laser eye surgery? Clone replacements? Cybernetic implants? So many conflicting solutions buzzing around in her head- oh no, it was coming back again. Schematics for cybernetics which when implanted into the retina would boost her vision to far exceed-

Lisa shut her eyes and shook her head. _No no no, not now, please not now_ she thought vainly. Nothing she tried ever stopped the barrage of information, it had a mind of its own. Sometimes it'd last minutes, sometimes hours, many times until she finished constructing the product of her inventive mind.

Thankfully after only a minute the white noise retreated. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief and opened her eyes again. She was sick of the visual kaleidoscope.

"Excuse me, can someone give me my glasses?" Lisa asked aloud.

The voices fell silent. Then... "She's awake!" cried the male voice. Her father's voice, she now recognized. The surrounding colors shifted, startled shouts and cheers erupting around her. They crowded around Lisa, pressing against her, choking her….

"Shh, shh." shushed the female. Her mother. "You're all overwhelming her." The salmon silhouette moved closer. "Here, honey. I brought a spare pair."

Lisa's mother carefully put the glasses on her face. The world snapped back into focus and Lisa blinked at her now visible surroundings. Around her bed were her siblings and parents in various states of exhaustion. Lily, Lola, Lana, and Lucy stood to her left, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, and on her right stood mother and father looking like they've aged ten years.

Why was she here again?

Lisa groaned at the pain in her head. Her mother was by her side in a flash and grabbed her hand reassuringly.

"How do you feel, sweetie?" Mother asked.

Lisa felt many things: tired, uncomfortable, confused..."Parched." She answered.

"I'll get some water!" Lily announced and dashed through the door before anyone could stop her.

Lisa took the time to observe her family. Her sisters' eyes(except for Lucy's, of course)were red and puffy, doubtlessly from crying, and the dark circles underneath suggested a lack of sleep. Still, they all wore smiles for her. Lily returned with a styrofoam cup of H2O, which Lisa accepted and greedily sucked down.

Her sisters began talking aimlessly about whatever inane topics entered their heads. Pets, photography, school, etc. Lisa nodded politely, still trying to piece everything together. As Lily was prattling on about the most amazing photograph she took of a sunset it suddenly occurred to Lisa that someone was missing.

"Where's Lincoln?" She asked.

Lily instantly clammed up and looked at the floor, the other sisters sharing uncomfortable looks with each other. Lisa felt a pit form in her stomach.

"Where is he?" she pressed. No one wanted to give her an answer.

"He's resting, dear." Mother finally said.

Resting? Why would he-Lisa jolted forward. The QMH. The overload. The _explosion_. "What is his condition? How long have we been here? Why didn't you wake me sooner!" The eleven year old ripped the I.V. out of her arm and tried to get out of the bed as her sisters hurried to hold her down.

"Whoa!" "Take it easy, sis!" "Lisa, honey, you'll hurt yourself!" Mother pleaded.

"Where is he?! Let me see him!" Lisa cried as she pushed Lily and Lana out of her way and leapt to her feet.

She pushed her way through the crowd and finally laid her eyes on the other bed in the room. Lisa's heart stopped.

It was Lincoln, in an almost unrecognizable form. Bandages coiled around his entire body with horrible burns peeking out from underneath. Every inch was covered except for his face, ghostly pale, with a perfectly blank expression. He may as well have been a corpse.

 _This is your fault._ The thought was hammered into her head. _Your fault your fault yourfaultyourfault_ _yourfault_ _yourfault_ -

Lisa collapsed to her knees, tears running down her cheeks. She did this, she hurt her brother. Her damned experiments caused this to happen. Her parents picked her up and carried her back to her bed, whispering soft little lies to her, yet Lisa's eyes remained locked onto her only brother.

* * *

In the corner of the room another pair of eyes glared at the genius. Who did she think she was fooling with those crocodile tears?

Lola grit her teeth. She was getting sick of pretending to be worried about Lisa. Everyone else fawned over her. ' _Oh poor Lisa, you who could have seen this coming?'_ Anyone with half a brain cell could have.

Lola watched the little sociopath blubber about the 'accident' and wanted to gag. It was so obvious what really happened, but she couldn't say anything, no one would believe her. Even Mom, who knew just how fucked up the little freak was-

 _Breath._ Lola thought. _First rule of a pageant princess: keep your cool. Breath, in, out._

She'd get her chance soon. Soon Lisa would learn not to mess with Lincoln ever again.

* * *

Lisa remained by Lincoln's bedside day and night.

She next in a chair next to him, eyes fixed on his chest as he slowly breathed in and out. That was proof, proof that he was alive, proof that she wasn't a murderer. Lincoln was comatose state. Lisa consulted the doctors to learn the full extent of his injuries. He was completely covered in 2nd and 3rd degree burns, with the worst damage being to his arms and back.

 _That would be because he shielded me._ Lisa thought guiltily.

Her own injuries were negligible in comparison(minor head trauma and shock). She had been officially discharged the previous day but she refused to leave Lincoln's side, not after he almost died for her. It would take months for Lincoln to heal, some parts of him likely never would. His back would remain scarred for the rest of his life. She held Lincoln's hand. A pulse, a heartbeat, _life._ It was horrible what happened to him but he was still alive, he would survive and overcome this. Her other sisters had nodded off one after the other, laying on the floor or in cheap plastic chairs, but not her, she didn't need sleep. This was nothing to her.

"Lisa, sweetie." Her mother knelt next to her.

"Yes mother?" Lisa said.

Her parents shared a look. "I think it's time to go home." said Father.

Lisa remained silent.

"Honey, this isn't healthy. It's been days, and you've barely eaten anything, you're not sleeping…" Mother trailed off.

"I can't." Lisa said simply.

Father approached from the side and sat down in the chair next to her. Lisa's eyes never left Lincoln.

"Lisa." Beat. "Lisa, look at me." Her eyes met his, and he put his hand on her shoulder.

"You're worried about him, we get that, but you need to take care of yourself." Reasoned Father. "Lincoln wouldn't want you to kill yourself worrying about him."

He was correct, this was physically and mentally destructive behavior she was partaking in...but Lisa didn't care. It was illogical, she knew it was, but she couldn't fight the overwhelming urge to stay with her brother. Was it guilt? Protectiveness? Something else? Whatever it was was irrelevant, all that mattered was that she wouldn't leave Lincoln's side.

Lisa's grip on his hand tightened. "Not until Lincoln regains consciousness." She said.

Father shook his head. "We can't wait that long. We don't know how long it's going to take for him to wake up."

"But-" Lisa protested.

"No buts about it, young lady." Said Mother authoritatively. "We'll come back tomorrow, we promise, but you need to rest first."

"And maybe shower too." Father added. Mother smacked his arm.

"Lynn!" "What? You smell her too, don't you?"

Lisa lifted her arm and gave a whiff, gagging. Perhaps her father had a point, Lincoln wouldn't want to wake up to smell _that._

"Very well." Lisa acquiesced. Her parents shared a sigh of relief and began shaking her sisters awake.

They stumbled their way through the doorway, Lisa last in line. She gave a lingering gaze at the bed before following her sleepy siblings to the elevator. Once she was away from her brother's bedside exhaustion hit her with the force of a particle accelerator. Lisa barely had the energy to make it to Vanzilla, and just as they were pulling out of the parking lot she nodded off unceremoniously.

* * *

 _She was back in the hospital. Or at least, her body was. Lisa couldn't do anything, she was trapped as her body went through the motions._

 _"Excuse me, can someone give me my glasses?" her lips moved by themselves. The scene played out just like before, the silhouettes, the shouting, the focusing._

 _"How do you feel honey?" "Parched."_

 _Lily volunteered again and dashed out of the room. Her sisters babbled just as they did before and Lily returned right on time with the water. Lily was prattling on about the most amazing photograph she took of a sunset when Lisa interrupted her again. "Where's Lincoln?" They tensed and fell silent._

 _Then something different happened._

 _Lily let out a heart wrenching sob, and that was the signal for the rest to break down. Every sister cried and wailed around her._

 _This was wrong. This wasn't supposed to be happening._

" _Where is he?" Her body asked._

 _Mother couldn't speak, overcome with her grief. Father took her place._ " _Lincoln-" he choked out. "Lincoln's dead."_

* * *

Lisa bolted upright in her bed, hyperventilating. She tried to calm her breathing as her eyes flickered around wildly at the surroundings.

This wasn't the hospital, it was her room. She was home.

 _That wasn't real. It was a dream, it was a dream._ She reassured herself as her breathing normalized. Lincoln was alive, she knew it, she _felt_ it. But that scene felt so terrifyingly real. The sights, the sounds, the touch, even the sterile smell were exactly as she remembered it. It was like she re-experienced that moment for the first time again.

Lisa wiped her forehead, feeling drops of perspiration. Hmm, she was experiencing diaphoresis, a.k.a. cold sweat. _Commonly induced by fear, nervousness, or illness._ She was completely covered in it. The genius laid back before sitting up again with a sound of disgust. The sheets were soaking wet and cold to the touch. She couldn't sleep in that. Lisa briefly considered retrieving a new set of sheets before remembering she had just the device to solve her problem.

The insomniac stood up, walked over to the storage closet and began searching for something inside. She rummaged around for a minute before finding her target, what looked like a vacuum hose attached to a small, black cube with a large red button on it. Experiment 117: The Demoisturizer. To anyone else it was a miracle of technology, to her it was a simple appliance.

Lisa hefted the invention over to her bed and pressed the large, conspicuous button. The cube hummed to life and Lisa pointed the hose at the damp linen. Drops of water started rising from the bed before quickly phasing out out of existence, and within minutes the bed was completely dry. Another press of the button shut off the machine and she deposited it back in the closet.

The genius laid down in her now dry bed, yet try as she might she couldn't sleep. The nightmare continued to haunt her. Lincoln might not be dead but he was still comatose, and his injuries were quite severe. He came incredibly close to dying, both of them did. They could have been vaporized, or ripped a hole in the space time continuum, or something else beyond her comprehension.

Lisa shivered and hugged herself.

This wasn't the first time one of her experiments went wrong. Lincoln words came back to her. _That's the problem. You do all of these experiments because you can, you never stop to think if you should._ And now her entire family was dealing with the consequences, again. She was a danger to them. Lisa turned and looked at the closet again. She'd left the door open. Hundreds of inventions spilled out of it, haphazardly piled on top of each other. It resembled a child's toy box more than a scientist's storage.

Too many times her careless pursuit of knowledge resulted in disastrous consequences for her family. Lawsuits, government investigations, ostracization from the rest of the town, and worst of all, injury. If her luck was just a fraction worse- " _Lincoln's dead." Her father choked out._

Lisa leapt to her feet. She had to make sure this would never happen again.

* * *

Lynn Loud Sr shuffled his way into the kitchen with a yawn.

He could barely sleep last night. Or any night, for that matter, after the accident. All of that stress does that to you. He prepared the coffee pot and looked at the clock on the microwave. **6:05** it read. Lynn shook his head as bitter black drops filled his mug. Damn, not even four hours of sleep.

He was just taking his first sip when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Lynn turned and looked through the glass door to the backyard. It was hard to tell in the early morning light but he saw what looked like...Lisa?

His eleven year old daughter was dragging a giant sack that must have been twenty times her size. It was filled to the stretching point with its contents bulging out through the material. Lisa was struggling to drag it any further.

Lynn rubbed his eyes, half hoping it was just a tired hallucination.

Nope, Lisa was still there. In the backyard. With a giant sack. At six in the morning.

The father of eleven sighed and opened up the patio door, walking over to the little girl with his mug still in hand. "Curse these weak limbs." Lisa grumbled to herself.

"Uh, Lisa?" Lynn called. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, good morning Father!" Lisa waved at him. "I'm simply storing all of my scientific equipment in the bunker." Lisa gave another forceful tug on the sack to no effect. She stared up at him imploringly. "Would you mind lending me some assistance?"

Lynn blinked and looked down at his mug, then to the sack, then wordlessly walked back inside to the coffee pot. He was going to need a lot more caffeine for this.

* * *

Lisa(with her Father's help) successfully stored all of her tools, her lab equipment, her samples, her chemicals, all of her inventions from storage, and even her lab coat in the bunker that she had constructed in the backyard seven years ago. She welded the door shut and chained it up for good measure, giving the key to her father and telling him in no uncertain terms to never give it back to her, no matter what she says or does. Father accepted it and grumbled again about 'not having enough coffee' for this task.

To repay him for his assistance Lisa helped him make breakfast.

It was the standard Loud family fare, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Wonderful smells wafted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, waking up her sleeping sisters with promises of delectable food. One by one the rest of the family were drawn to the dining room and sat down at the table. Breakfast was served, and Lisa announced her vow to never experiment again to the general approval of her family. Everyone congratulated her for her decision-except for Lola.

The blonde teen's face flashed with a glare for a split second before it morphed into a smile like the rest of the family. Lisa narrowed her eyes. What was _that_?

* * *

Over the next week a sort of routine took shape.

The family visited the hospital every day for at least an hour, and cared for the fallen Loud in their own special ways. Lily was making a photo album of her favorite pictures to gift to Lincoln when he woke up. When Lisa wasn't occupied holding her brother's hand she lent her sister some assistance selecting photos. She quickly noticed that many of the pictures focused on Lily and Lincoln together, usually in a selfie. Lisa smiled to herself and said nothing.

Lana smuggled in Geo and Hops in her shirt and let them scurry around on Lincoln's arm. "Whenever I'm sick, these little guys help me feel better." she said, shrugging. "Maybe it'll help Lincoln feel better too?" Meanwhile, Lola prepared multiple 'get well soon' cards with her own special flair for decoration(read: copious amounts of glitter).

Finally Lucy read him pieces of her poetry, surprisingly uplifting compared to her normal material.

' _White phoenix, white phoenix,_

 _Bathed in fire, clothed in gauze,_

 _Soon to rise again from death's jaws_

 _Soon to take to the air once more_

 _And burn brighter than ever before_

 _White phoenix, white phoenix….'_

Lincoln's condition remained unchanged, yet Lisa thought he would appreciate their visits.

* * *

When at home Lisa mostly remained in her room, except of course for meals and to use the latrine. She preferred to remain alone with her thoughts and her books. Lisa didn't spare her textbooks in her cleanup, but she did keep the few pieces of fiction that she owned( _War and Peace, Atlas Shrugged, Ulysses, etc)._ It was refreshing to read fiction again, and it helped to take her mind off of recent events.

Most of her sisters kept their space, except for Lily. Everyday Lisa's little sister would knock on her door with some new excuse to bother her. She would want her advice for developing film, or ask her if she wanted to go take a walk, or play a game, or watch a nature documentary on tv. Lisa would always politely refuse and she'd return hours later with another request. There was no denying her persistence, but the ex-scientist was beginning to grow weary of it.

As for her other sisters...Lucy was Lucy, keeping to her room. They were happy to leave each other alone, and Lisa appreciated her gloomy normality.

Lana occupied herself with a new project to completely fix Vanzilla, getting it back up to its old efficiency. Father would certainly be happy to not have to make another expensive trip to the mechanic.

That left Lola...who was suspiciously quiet. She was planning something, and Lisa knew it wouldn't bode well for her. It was best to avoid being alone with the pageant princess for the time being.

There was a knock on her door.

Lisa sighed and bookmarked the page she was on, setting her current book( _Les Miserables_ ) down. Doubtlessly it was her little sister again. She answered the door and to her surprise it wasn't Lily, but Lana.

"Uh, hey Lisa." said the grease monkey, looking slightly uncomfortable. _Is something bothering her?_

"Greetings, Lana." Lisa spotted a black stain on her shirt. "How goes the repairs on Vanzilla?"

"What? Oh, it's going alright." Lana briefly regained some of her spirit. "She's getting old, you know. That engine's hanging on by the skin of its teeth."

"Do you require my assistance?" Lisa asked. While she didn't enjoy it she was a proficient mechanic, and her and Lana had worked together on several projects in the past.

Lana deflated slightly. "No, uh, not with Vanzilla. I was wondering if you could help me fix Geo's feeder?"

Geo was Lana's pet hamster, and most likely her 2nd favorite pet(not that she'd admit it around any of the others). Six years ago Lana had asked Lisa to build an automatic feeder for him. The genius easily fulfilled the request before she noticed the state of the pet. It was old, almost three years old. Hamster life spans rarely extended long past that. Lisa knew he would die soon, as surely as she knew E=mc squared. Lisa took the opportunity to secretly make some (minor) genetic modifications to the hamster to extend his lifespan. Lisa could only delay the inevitable, the most she could give him was another eight years, maybe, but it was enough to spare her older sister the trauma of loss for just a little longer.

"Uh, Lisa? You there?" Lana waved a hand in front of her face.

"What's the problem with it?" Lisa asked suddenly, causing her sister to jump back.

"Oh, I don't know." Lana recovered. "It's spitting out too much food. Geo's getting fatter, see?" She held up the rodent in question. It blinked at her curiously. Lisa couldn't notice anything different about the hamster, but then again she wasn't an expert like her sister. _And maybe those modifications had some effect too?_

"You are aware that I've forbidden myself from further experimentation, correct?" Lisa asked.

"It's not experimenting, it's fixing." Lana corrected her.

Hmm. Minor maintenance should be permissible. Lana was correct, she technically would not be violating her vow. "Very well, lead the way." said Lisa.

Lana seemed relieved as she smiled. "Thanks, his cage is in my room."

Lana turned and led Lisa down the hallway, pigtails bouncing with every step. Wait, Lana had her own room now, right across from hers. Why was she-They stopped in front of a familiar sparkly door. "Uh, Lana, this is Lol-" Lana suddenly shoved her inside and shut the door. "Sorry sis!" came her muffled shout.

Lisa staggered inside and looked at her surroundings. Terror struck her heart. She had to get out of there, quick. She turned and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. Something, no, _someone_ was blocking it.

Lisa pounded on the door desperately."Lana!" She yelled. "Let me out of here right now or-"

"Or _what_?" came a sultry voice from behind her.

Lisa froze and turned to look at the other twin. Lola was reclining on her bed, a fashion magazine laying forgotten on her lap. She had long outgrown her little pageant dress, now instead sporting a pink tank top and jean shorts. Pink socks stretched up her calves and conditioned blonde hair fell down to her shoulders.

Lola sat up and started stalking towards Lisa, a predatory grin on her face. "Or what little sis? What are you going to do to her?"

"I-I.." Lisa sputtered as she backed up against the door.

"You going to blow her up too?" said Lola.

"N-no, I didn't-" Lola grabbed her arm, painfully, and dragged her over to a small table in the center of the room. An old teapot lay on top of it and two chairs sat on either side.

"It's been ages since I had a tea party. Come on, sis. _Join me._ " Lola sneered the last two words.

Lisa knew she wasn't a match for her older sister in a fight, the door was blocked, and she wasn't fast enough to reach the window. With fight and flight both unavailable she had no choice but to obey. They sat down across from each other, a steaming teapot between them.

"There we go." Lola gave her a sickeningly sweet smile. "I can't remember the last time you had tea with me."

"September 9th, 2016. You were angry when I tried to test the tea for traces of plastic." Lisa recalled.

"Right, I think that's when I realized just how much of a freak you really are."

She was attempting to provoke her. Lisa fixed her sister with her usual stoic look. "I'd say I was insulted if I hadn't heard that insult an innumerable number of times before." she responded.

Lola's smile flickered for just a second before returning in force. "Tea?" Lola offered a steaming cup to her.

"No thank you." Lisa declined.

"Oh come on." Lola rolled her eyes. "You really think I put rat poison in it or something?" She took a sip. "Hmm. Tea. _Have some_." She insisted.

Lisa reluctantly took the offered porcelain cup. Lola gestured for her to drink. She raised it to her lips when Lola suddenly slammed her hand on the table, causing Lisa to flinch and spill hot tea down her front.

"You've been avoiding me, Lisa." said Lola, smile now completely gone.

"I've been avoiding everyone, you're not special." Lisa winced as she wiped at the brown stains on her sweater. She had to remain composed, she wouldn't give Lola the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her.

"It doesn't help your case. Innocent people don't hide." said Lola.

"My case? Am I on trial for something?"

Lola growled at her. "Let's cut the bullshit: you hurt Lincoln."

"You think I'm responsible for the accident."

"Oh I don't think, I _know_ you're responsible for what happened. And we both know it wasn't an accident."

Lisa narrowed her eyes. "What are you suggesting?"

"Suggesting? Who's suggesting anything?" Lola leaned forward. "I'm telling you. You hurt Lincoln, and you did it deliberately."

Lisa's eyes widened. _How dare she?!_ She opened her mouth to angrily retort before forcing it closed. _Don't play her game._ "I would never do that to him." Lisa said coldly.

"But you did it before." Lola smiled. "You did it so many times before, what makes it different this time?"

"Despite what you may think, I have never intentionally hurt anyone, not Lincoln, not you, and not any of our sisters. Any injuries i've regretfully caused were accidents."

"Oh, and you just so happen to walk away without a scratch every single time? While Lincoln gets burned to a crisp? Do you think I'm fucking stupid?" Lola snarled.

"So what is your logic? I deliberately injured my brother, why?" Lisa asked.

"' _What is your logic?_ '" Lola mocked with a heavy lisp. "Can you stop talking like a robot for five minutes? 'My logic' is that you're a nutcase who gets off on hurting people, that's why you make Lincoln to help you all of the time. You like hurting him."

Lisa blinked. _Really? That's her line of reasoning? I'm some kind of sadist?_ She almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

"I do not 'make' Lincoln do anything, he voluntarily assists me." Lisa pointed out.

"Really? You never manipulated him? Not once? Not even just a little bit?" Lisa opened her mouth to deny it before she remembered the last experiment. She had appealed to Lincoln's empathy to conduct the QMH test trial. Lisa's expression must have given her away, because Lola leaned back with a smile.

"When was the last time you ever hung out with him without your science shit? When was was the last time you did something he liked?"

"I-I-" Lisa wracked her memory. The movie theater? No, she used the visit to conduct research for a new project. There had to be something else…The genius remained silent to Lola's pleasure.

"I knew it. That's all Lincoln is good for, to be your fucking guinea pig. You don't love him, not like the rest of us. Not like me."

"I do care about him." Lisa said feebly.

"You care about him?" Lola trembled with fury. "Lincoln's in the hospital because of you, Lincoln almost died because of you! And you can't even say you love him, no you _care_ about him." Lisa winced. That sounded bad. It was best to get to the point and end the conversation.

"What do you want, Lola?" Lisa asked.

"I'm not letting you hurt Lincoln ever again. No more using him as a guinea pig in your experiments." Said Lola.

"I've locked up all of my-" "You can lock up whatever you want, but that's not gonna stop your freaky little urges."

Lisa froze. _She knows._ Ice flooded her veins. She knew about the static that buzzed in her head. How did she know? She didn't tell anyone except-

"That's right, that little heart to heart you had with Mom?" Lola looked positively glowing in her chair. "After the camping trip? The one you ruined? I heard it, I heard all about your dirty little secret."

This was bad, very very bad. Lola had the greatest of all pieces of blackmail against her, and what she'll use it for- "I wonder what Lincoln's going to think when he finds out?" Lola purred.

 _Nonononono_ he couldn't find out. He'd treat her differently, he'd fear her, he'd _pity_ her. "Please don't." Lisa begged her sister.

"Don't what?" asked Lola.

"Don't tell him, please."

"Why? I think he deserves to know the truth about his little sister." "No, you don't understand-"

"Oh stupid little Lola doesn't know anything, not like _you_. You're just so _brilliant_ compared to the rest of us." Lola sneered. "Newsflash, freak, I understand _everything_." Lisa's fear was slowly being replaced by pure, irrational rage. _She has no idea what she's talking about!_ Pressure started to build between her ears.

"You get these urges, right? And then these little voices in your head whisper to you." Lola leaned forward and started whispering conspiratorially. "They tell you all about how to make those crazy machines, but not that's it. They want you to hurt people too, don't they?"

Pressure building. "Shut up."

"You're like a schizo, no a druggie. A dirty, disgusting druggie trying to get her next high!"

Pressure building. "Shut up." Lisa repeated, trembling in her seat.

"You're a freak! A monster! A psychopath! You should have never been born!"

"Shut up!" screamed Lisa. The pressure was reaching its peak. It was taking every ounce of her self control not to strangle her sister.

Lola smirked. "Or what?"

Lisa gave a yell and tackled her older sister out of her chair.

The two sisters grappled and clawed at each other wildly, the genius's surprise advantage quickly being lost as adrenaline started pumping. Lola snarled and threw Lisa off of her, her face impacting the floor. Lisa flinched as the right lens of her glasses cracked. _I'll need another replacement pair._ The genius squinted back up at Lola who picked up a teacup from the table and dumped it on her. Lisa screamed and rolled on the ground, her chest covered in a horrible burning pain.

"There!" Lola laughed. "Now you know how he feels right now!"

Lisa spun and kicked the table over, spilling the entire teapot all over Lola's legs. The blonde screeched and fell onto her back, rolling back and forth as approximately 24 ounces of boiling liquid streamed down her to her feet. "You bitch!" She screamed.

Lisa stumbled to her feet, fiery temper quickly evaporating. She wasn't going to win this fight, she had to escape while she still could. With the door blocked- Lisa dashed over to the window and struggled to open it as her sister's wails of agony drifted to her ears.

 _So much for not hurting my family._ Lisa thought. _But there's no denying she deserved it._

The genius unlocked the hatch and slowly managed to pry it open. Just as Lisa stuck her head outside and began calculating the distance to the ground she felt a hand grip her foot. "No you don't!" Lola roared and yanked her back inside. Lisa fell back in a heap as Lola pounced on her again. Her older sister attacked her wildly, striking her multiple times in her head, neck, chest, and stomach as Lisa tried to shield herself.

Lola finally pinned Lisa to the floor and grabbed her right arm. "Don't you ever go near Lincoln again." she said, breathing heavily. "Understand?"

Lisa remained silent. "I asked you a question." Lola twisted, causing Lisa to cry out. "Do you understand?"

"Y-yes!" Lisa gasped.

Lola twisted even harder. "Speak up! I can't hear you!"

"YES!" "Yes what?!" "Yes I understand!" Lisa cried. "I'll stay away!"

"Good." Lola let her go and stood up. "I'm done with her, Lana!" She called before stopping and looking down at Lisa. Lisa received a strong kick in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. " _Now_ I'm done." The princess said before gingerly walking through the door.

Lana peered inside at Lisa then glared at Lola. "I thought you said you just wanted to talk to her!" shouted the tom boy accusing.

"I did, _she's_ the one who attacked me. I just defended myself." Lola turned and called back into her room. "And don't forget, freak, if you try anything I'll tell Lincoln all about your little problem."

Lola turned away before Lana grabbed her arm, holding her in place. "Hey, wait! I did what you wanted, where's Hops?" the grease monkey asked desperately.

"You'll get your stupid frog." Lola pulled her arm away. "I just need an ice bath first." The princess hissed as she started walking to the bathroom, angry red blisters covering her legs.

Lisa remained laying on the floor, cradling her stomach, as Lana entered the room. The older twin offered her hand to her. "Need some help?" Lisa glared at her and pushed herself up, alone.

Lana winced and withdrew her hand. "I-I'm sorry sis. She made me do it, she had Hops." she said.

Lisa's glare remained. "I don't care." She staggered into the hallway, Lana following after her. "Lisa, wait!" she begged.

"Good luck repairing Geo's feeder, if it even required maintenance in the first place." She responded coldly. "I expect to be left alone from here onward, if that isn't too much to ask?"

Tears sprung from Lana's eyes. "I-I'm sorry!" she wailed and dashed into her own room. Lisa felt the smallest flicker of remorse before quickly smothering it. _It's her fault this happened to me. She took advantage of my helpful nature, she deceived me. Let her cry._

Lisa continued down the hallway until she reached her room. Lily chose that exact moment to reach the top of the stairs and spot her sister. "Hey Lisa!" she called. "Wanna-" " _Not now_ , Lily." Lisa snapped and slammed her door shut. "O-Okay." The little photographer deflated.

Lisa lay on her bed, lost in her thoughts as her eyes traced the ceiling through cracked lenses.

It seemed she no choice but to obey Lola, at least for the time being. The threat of Lincoln learning of her...quirk…it was too high to risk disobeying her. Lisa briefly considered telling her parents what happened before quickly dismissing the thought. She was old enough to fight her own battles, she would not run to Mother and Father and tug at their pant legs like a child. Lola would face justice by her own hand. It would be difficult without her science, but Lisa wasn't completely disarmed yet. She still had her brilliant mind to work with.

Lisa turned on her side uncomfortably, feeling a particularly tender spot beneath her sternum with her fingers. _That will certainly bruise._

Information started flowing into her brain unbidden. _Ointments, healing powders, auto-docs, vita chambers-_

Lisa closed her eyes. Was Lola right? Was the static making her do things she didn't want to do? Lisa never really questioned it until now. It was there for as long as she could remember, as part of her as any of her limbs or vital organs. Why was it there? Where was it coming from? How could she even begin to treat it?

These were questions Lisa couldn't answer, and that worried her. She was dealing with something beyond a mere mental illness, it was a completely unknown, alien force. The implications were disturbing. What other effects might it have on her? Higher brain functions, memory _\- you don't really love him -_ emotions, all of them and more could be influenced by these strange urges.

 _-combination of plasmids reconstructed within a quantum field entanglement would in theory allow a subject to-_

Lisa shook her head clear of that particular flow of information and a hundred other threads quickly replaced it.

She would have to conduct further research, which could prove rather difficult without any of her equipment. First thing's first, she had to take notes. Lisa retrieved a notepad and pen from her desk drawer and started to write.

White noise continued to bounce around inside Lisa's head as she wrote down her observations.

* * *

Elsewhere, in a very uncomfortable hospital bed, Lincoln Loud opened his eyes again.

* * *

AN: Here's chapter 2, finally. This was originally going to be longer until I realized just how long it was getting(over 6k words, shit).

Just like last time leave a review if you like what you've read. The support is appreciated.


	3. Of Catheters and Superstrength

AN: Here it is, sorry for the long wait.

* * *

It was bright.

Lincoln groaned as he squinted at his surroundings.

White walls, white floor, white sheets. Why was everything so blindingly white? He tried to say something('hello?', 'where am I?' or the always useful 'help!) before he started coughing uncontrollably. God, his throat was so dry.

Someone was walking to him, heels clicking on the tiled floor. "What's happening-" a voice said. A woman. "Oh, you're awake!"

A shadow suddenly fell over him. He blinked up at her. A nurse?  
"How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?" she asked.  
"Water." Lincoln rasped before closing his eyes. His head throbbed at the damn brightness. He heard the nurse shuffle around before returning to him.

"Here." He squinted his eyes open again and saw her holding out a styrofoam cup with a straw poking out the top to him. The teen leaned forward and greedily sucked down as much water as he could. When he was finished the nurse set the cup down on a nearby table and turned to leave.

"You wait right there, I'll tell the doctor you're awake." she called.

"Wait! Can you turn the lights off, please?" He half begged. She flicked the switch off and left him in darkness.

Lincoln tried to piece together where he was. Hospital? How did he get here? He felt completely numb from the neck down. And he was covered in something...dry and papery...bandages? A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. The man-no, the doctor looked older, with balding hair and horn rimmed glasses.

"Hello Lincoln, I'm Doctor Peltzer." The man said, reaching his hand out.

"Hey." Lincoln managed, shaking his wrinkly hand.

Peltzer sat down in a chair next to the bed, clearing his throat.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked slowly, making sure Lincoln could understand.

"Hospital." Lincoln guessed.

"Do you know why you're here?" The doctor pressed him.

* * *

" _Please..L-Lincoln. I-I just need to test this one theory."_

 _Blinding-burning-bright-hot-white-_

" _What's that sound?"_

 _His skin was on fire. White light poured into him-_

" _That's not good. I recommend a hasty-"_

 _He cradled her small form. He had to protect her. Protect from the light._

* * *

"Lincoln?"

* * *

 _Someone was screaming. It was him. It didn't matter. He had to protect her._

* * *

"Lincoln!" The doctor snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Are you okay?"

Lincoln shook himself. "Uh, there was an accident. Explosion."

The older man put on a sympathetic face. "Is that all you can remember?"

"I...had to protect someone." _Who?_ "Keep her safe." _Her?_ "She-"

* * *

 _The world exploded in pure light. "LISA!"_

* * *

Lincoln bolted upright. "Lisa! My sister, what happened to her?!" His bandaged hands grabbed Doctor Peltzer by the shoulders and shook him violently. "Where is she?! Is she okay?!"

"Easy, easy son!" Peltzer wheezed. "Your sister is alright, she went home a week ago!"

Safe, she was safe. He protected her.

Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief and let the poor doctor go. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Peltzer waved him off. "It's only natural to have that kind of reaction."

Lincoln leaned back on the mattress. _You'd think they'd be able to afford more comfortable beds._

"Is this the part where you start doing tests on me?" He asked the doctor wryly.

"I'm just going to check your senses and vitals. You've done this before?" Peltzer took out several tools from his bag.

"I've done this more times than I can count." said Lincoln.

"Oh? Are you a hospital regular?" said the doctor, holding up a stethoscope to Lincoln's chest.

"My little sister is a kind of a doctor." And an engineer, and a physicist, and a chemist, and so many other things Lincoln couldn't even pronounce.

Peltzer gave him a curious look. "But you're only eighteen. She sounds a little young to be a doctor."

"Well, she's not a _real_ doctor, she doesn't have her P.H.D. or anything." _Though_ _Lisa could probably get one in a week if she really wanted to._ "But she knows everything about the human body. Heck, I'd trust her to do surgery on me."

The doctor shook his head as he got out the blood pressure pump-thingy. "I've never heard of a little girl performing surgery before." He scoffed as he started squeezing the pump.

"It's true, I swear." said Lincoln. "Not that she ever needs to do it, but she can."

"How old is she?" Peltzer asked.

"Eleven." said Lincoln.

"Eleven years old and you'd trust her with a scalpel?" The old doctor "If what you're saying is true she has to be some kind of prodigy."

"You have no idea." Lincoln laughed.

* * *

Doctor Peltzer finished all of his tests(including shining that flashlight thing in Lincoln's eyes, which felt like someone was stabbing a screwdriver into his brain) and packed all of his tools up.

"Uh, Doctor? How long have I been here?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh, about a week. You've been comatose most of the time."

Only a week? "That's not too bad, I guess." Lincoln shrugged. He got to miss his final exams _and_ he could still enjoy summer before college. _Ha, suck it Clyde. All that studying was useless anyway._ "You're going to call my family, right? Tell them I'm awake?" said Lincoln.

"Normally I would, but visiting time is over. We'll call them in the morning, don't worry." Peltzer turned to leave. "In the meantime you should rest up. You have a long day tomorrow."

"I will." promised Lincoln.

The doctor started walking towards the door when he suddenly dropped his bag and hissed.

"You okay?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm fine, just a little sore." Peltzer gave a pained smile as he rubbed his shoulder. "You have a strong grip, son."

* * *

"Lisa." A bored voice came to her. "Arise, Lisa."

The eleven year old groaned and rolled on her side. Wake up? No, she was tired, so tired. Sleep….that's what she needed right now. Nice, quiet, sleep…

"Lisa." An annoyed sigh. "Come on, wake up already." A pale hand shook the sleeping genius awake.

Lisa grumbled. Who dared to interrupt her rest? She blinked her eyes open to see a pale black and white face hanging inches in front of her.

"Gah!" Lisa flinched back.

"Sigh." Lucy withdrew away from her. "I can't even wake people up without scaring them."

Lisa's gothic sister stood next to the bed with her arms crossed. The genius noted she was wearing her sleepwear, an oversized black t-shirt and striped pajama pants.

A brief silence ensued.

"Er-" Lisa cleared her throat. "Do you require something?"

"It's time for breakfast. Dad sent me to get you." said Lucy.

Breakfast? Lisa yawned and rubbed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep while taking notes on her condition. Said notes now lay scattered around her on the bed, ripped from the notepad. The genius picked up a sheet but struggled to read it, owing to the cracks that spiderwebbed her vision. She was still wearing the damaged pair of glasses from yesterday.

"Can you tell Father I'll be down in a few minutes?" Lisa asked her intruder as she retrieved an intact pair from her desk drawer.

"He said you'd say that and that I should wait for you. To make sure you don't get...distracted." Lucy said.

 _Curse these familial meal gatherings._ Lisa thought as she swapped glasses. Father insisted she came down every morning for breakfast even though she preferred to take her meals alone in her room. It was an annoying but tolerable routine. With the new glasses her vision cleared exponentially allowing her to bend down and start picking up the scattered notes, hopeful to find something she could work with.

"Are you coming?" Came the goth's drawl from behind her.

"Give me a moment." Lisa flipped through her assembled stack of papers. The first few pages seemed promising.

 _The urge doesn't appear to vary in intensity over time, it is uniform in strength, constant. Not a single line of information, rather multiple 'threads'. Each thread leads to different areas of information all related to constructing the targeted item, i.e. the laws of energy and motion, electromagnets, advanced engineering, etc, all combining together to help construct the desired product._

Everything quickly devolved from there.

 _-broadcasted-(illegible)-what kind of signal? Neural feedback loop-(illegible)-quantum mechanics suggest…too many too many too many-(illegible)- Written notes are proving ineffective, will attempt to demonstrate via illustrations._

After that was nothing but scribbles, page after page of senseless scribbles. Lisa threw the stack down with a sound of frustration. _So much for that._

"Let's go." Lisa said and fell into step behind her older sister as they marched down the hallway.

"Pardon me for asking, but why did Father send you to retrieve me?" Lisa queried as they reached the stairs. Her older sister was usually not the type to volunteer for such a task.

Lucy shrugged. "No one else wanted to do it."

Hmm. Lola didn't volunteer for obvious reasons, and Lily and Lana likely wanted to avoid her after she verbally lashed out at them. Lisa felt a stab of guilt at her previous actions. She _was_ emotionally unstable after the fight with Lola, but that didn't excuse her treatment of them.  
The duo reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the dining room. Their three pajama clad sisters sat at the table, Lily and Lana sitting on the left side and Lola sitting across from them, alone. Lily was laughing at something Lana said before spotting the duo and instantly clamming up.

Three pairs of eyes locked onto Lisa.

Lola's formed a glare, 2nd degree burns undoubtedly still paining her. The genius felt a small amount of satisfaction at that.

Lana's eyes were remorseful, guilty, conciliatory towards her. She likely blamed herself for what happened yesterday.

The final pair of eyes was Lily's, fearful and uncertain. The little photographer quickly averted her gaze, scared of annoying her again.

Lisa felt anguish strike her heart. The two of them used to be the closest pair of sisters. She personally oversaw her growth and development, from her first steps to potty training to when she got her first camera. To have their familial bond threatened like this...it would not go on. She would apologize to Lily , and Lana too, later, when she had the chance.

Lucy silently moved to sit next to Lola while Lisa decided to sit at the far end of the table. An uncomfortable silence hung over the table until her parents joined them from the kitchen, arms laden with a pot of oatmeal and plates of eggs and bacon.

Lisa grabbed a bowl and filled it with oatmeal as dialogue began again. She picked at her breakfast, appetite nonexistent.

 _Oatmeal._ _84% water, 12% carbohydrates, 2% dietary fiber, 2% of protein. Contains 29% of the daily value of manganese-_

The buzzing of a cell phone interrupted her dietary analysis. Lisa looked for the source of the disturbance. Father reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone.

"Hello?" Beat. Father suddenly stood up, almost knocking over a glass of orange juice in his haste. "He is? Can we see him?"

Silence for a few seconds. "Yes, yes, we'll be there as soon as we can. Thank you so much." He hung up the phone and turned to the family.

"That was a call from the hospital." He announced.

The mood in the dining room instantly grew tense. Lisa gripped the edge of her chair. _Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead..._

Father beamed. "Lincoln's awake!"

The table erupted into cheers. Lisa felt like she could fly at that moment. He was alive, he was awake. She would get to see him again. Father clapped his hands, quieting the children's celebration. "Okay, everyone get changed! We're leaving in ten minutes!"  
The sisters stampeded up the stairs back to their rooms to get dressed. Just as she was about to enter her room Lisa felt an arm coil around her shoulder and tensed.

"Come on little sis, I got the _cutest_ top you can wear." Lola said sweetly as she dragged the genius towards her own room.

Lana paused in front of her door and gave a concerned look in their direction. She frowned and narrowed her eyes. Lana pulled up her sleeve and started walking to them threateningly when Lisa shook her head. _Don't interfere._ Lana stopped looked at her imploringly. _Let me help you.  
_ She shook her head again. _No._ Lisa didn't need her help, she would handle this herself. Lana deflated and shrunk back into her room.

Once they entered Lola's room the princess threw Lisa against the wall and held her in place.

"What, you don't actually think you get to visit him, do you?" she said darkly.

" _Yes_ , I do." Lisa freed herself from her grasp. "He is my brother too. I have a right to visit him."

Lola laughed. "Sorry to burst your bubble, freak, but that's not happening. Lincoln needs to rest and recover, and seeing _you_ is the last thing he needs right now."

"I'm going to see him." Lisa said assertively. She wouldn't be denied seeing her own injured brother, not in his time of need.

"Did you forget what happened yesterday?" Lola asked.

"I see you haven't, going by your slight difficulty walking." Lisa retorted.

"You don't have a choice." Lola growled. "Or do you want me to-"

"-reveal my deepest, darkest secret to Lincoln?" Lisa finished dryly. "No. But you don't have a choice either. Mother and Father want everyone to go."

" _Mom_ and _Dad._ " Lola emphasized. "Won't let you go if they think you're sick."

"But I'm not sick." Lisa pointed out.

Lola eyed her. "Mhm. Stick a finger down your throat."

Lisa's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"I said stick a finger down your throat." Lola said plainly.

 _Inserting a finger in her throat would cause her to touch her uvula, triggering a gag reflex-_ "No!" Lisa said with disgust.

Lola sighed impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Either you do it, or I'll do it for you." She grinned and held up her index finger, a long, sharp nail protruding from it. "And I'll make sure it _hurts_."

Lisa glared at her older sister. Then, to her embarrassment, she inserted a finger into her mouth. Lisa paused, considering what she was about to do.  
"Come on, do it already." Lola urged her, tapping her foot.  
Lisa steeled herself and prodded her uvula, gagging. She hunched forward and expelled the contents of her stomach, oatmeal and stomach acid staining the carpet. Lola wrinkled her nose at the smell and opened her door. "Mom!" She called. "Lisa's throwing up!"

Footsteps hurried up the stairs and in seconds her mother knelt next to her. "Lisa! What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked.

Lisa wiped her mouth. "I don't feel well." she lied.

"Did you eat too fast? Was there something wrong with the oatmeal? Should I-"

"Mother..." Lisa interrupted her "Maybe...I should remain here? I might risk infecting Lincoln with something."

"Are you sure, honey?" Mother asked. "I know you really want to see him."

Behind her Lola nodded. Lisa swallowed. "I'm sure."

* * *

Mother put her to bed with strict orders not to exert herself any further. With a kiss on the forehead Mother bid her goodbye and promised they'd be back soon.

Lisa was left with an empty stomach and a smoldering hatred for her sister.

* * *

Lola grinned to herself as Mom carried Lisa out of her room. _That should hold her off for a few days._ Enough time for Lola to make sure Lincoln is okay. He'd have some time to rest and relax without the little Frankenstein bothering him.

The princess could picture it perfectly. Lincoln laying in bed while half dead while Lisa badgered him with questions.

 _What is your current status? Do you notice any side effects? Would you submit to a few tests?_

She'd probably think her stupid experiment was still going on. What was she even trying to do that day, anyway? Lola shook her head. It didn't matter, nothing was worth almost killing Lincoln.

Lola browsed her closet for something to wear. _Too slutty,_ she thought, tossing a shirt aside. _Too sparkly, too tight, not pink enough._

She finally settled on a pink crop top and blue jeans. The princess grit her teeth as she stretched the pants up her bandaged legs. It hurt like hell how it pressed and squeezed her, but she had to hide the burns from her parents. Lola finished and admired herself in the mirror.

Silky blonde hair, smooth curves, toned stomach-she turned around-and a tight ass that would make a supermodel jealous. She looked perfect, as usual.

"Lola!" Dad called from downstairs. "Don't keep us waiting!"

"Coming Dad!" Lola blew her reflection a kiss and left the room.

* * *

The family crowded into Vanzilla, that stupid old bucket of bolts. Lola sat in the back row where she could have a little bit of privacy and pulled out a pair of pink earbuds, starting to untangle them.

Lana slid into the seat next to her with a glare.

Lola rolled her eyes. _Still mad about that stupid frog?_ She gave Hops back after her ice bath, true to her word. _Now_ what did Lana want?

Vanzilla rumbled to life and the family of six pulled out of the driveway. Dad turned on the radio, putting on his cringy dad music.

 _Riders on the storm  
Riders on the storm  
Into this house we're born  
Into this world we're thrown_

The music drifted all the way to the backseat. Lola hurried untangling her headphones, desperate to drown out that garbage.

"What did you do to Lisa?" Lana suddenly whispered accusingly.

Lola froze. She slowly turned to her sister and mock gasped. "Who, me? Do something to her? Why would I ever-"

Lana scowled at her. "Cut the bullshit."

"Why do you think I did something to her?" asked Lola.

"Because I _know_ you. Why are you hurting her?"

Lola tensed and looked at the front seat. Dad was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and singing. The music was loud enough that they couldn't hear anything behind them.

The princess turned back and sighed. _Here we go again._ Lana was the only sister she actually tried to convince about Lisa's secret agenda, but she was just too thick headed to understand. "Because she hurt Lincoln." Lola carefully explained. "She burned him up and put in the hospital. I think she deserves to feel a little pain too."

"But it was an accident." said the mechanic. "She didn't mean to hurt him."

Lola's eyes flashed. "Shut up, Lana. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"This isn't right." Lana shook her head. "Sisters don't do this to each other."

"Lisa's not like the rest of us. She's dangerous. What if she blew up Hops? Or Geo? Or Cliff?" Lola leaned closer. "Or _me_?"

The mechanic avoided her eyes. Lola smiled. _Almost._ "What if she killed us?" She pressed.

"L-Lisa wouldn't-" Lana protested.

"But she almost did. And this wasn't the first time either. Are you forgetting all of the times her experiments went wrong?" Lola leaned forward and gave her twin a disarming smile. "I'm just going to make sure this never happens again. What's wrong with that?" _Come on, trust me. Stop fighting me._

For a second Lola thought she had her. Lana dropped her scowled and looked torn, confused, easy to control. Just when Lola was about to open her mouth to reassure her Lana's defiance returned in full force. "But she already locked up all her science stuff in the bunker."

Lola rolled her eyes. "Come on Lana, even you're not that stupid. It's Lisa we're talking about here. She could find a way to crack through that door in ten minutes if she wanted to, which she will."

"That doesn't make it okay to hurt her. It's...it's…" Lana searched for the right word. "-abuse."

"Wow Lana, such a big word. Where'd you learn that? I know you didn't read it in Plumber's Monthly."

Lana glared defiantly at Lola.. "I'm not letting you hurt her anymore."

Lola eyed her twin warily. Usually it was a coin flip whenever they fought who would win, Lana being slightly stronger while Lola had just a bit more viciousness.  
But with her legs messed up she couldn't risk a fight with her right now. She had to be smart about this.

"So what are you going to do?" Lola hissed.

"I'll tell Mom and Dad." said Lana.

Lola narrowed her eyes. Mom and Dad would take Lisa's side, of course. " _How could you hurt your poor little sister?"_ she could hear them lecturing her already. She couldn't let Lana tell them anything. Leverage, Lola needed leverage over her twin quick. She mentally ran through her blackmail material.

Steal and/or threaten another pet? They'd have to get home first and Lana could tattle anytime in between.

Threaten to spread her embarrassing secrets? Summer just started, she couldn't tell everyone in school about how Lana wet the bed until she was seven if there was no school for the next two months.

Lola sighed. She had no other choice, she had to use her trump card. The princess gave Lana a cheshire grin.  
"You want to tell them? Fine, go ahead." She waved her hand dismissively. "See if I care."

Lana eyed her warily. "What are you doing?"

"What? You want to tell them what I did to Lisa? Go ahead, there's nothing stopping you." Lola inspected her fingernails. "But if you do that I think it's only fair that I tell them all about how much money you've stolen from Mom's purse to buy pet treats."

Lana's eyes widened. "H-how do you know about-"

"How much _did_ you steal? I counted at least a hundred dollars after I started watching you but you had to have been doing it for a lot longer than that." Lola suddenly pounced forward and grabbed her twin's shirt, pulling her close. "Don't fuck with me, Lana." she whispered darkly. "If you even _think_ about getting in my way again I'll make sure Mom and Dad take every one of your stupid pets away. Got it?"

Lana clenched her fists and looked down at her feet. After a few seconds she nodded.

Lola smiled. _Checkmate._ It was a shame she had to lay all her cards on the table, but at least now Lana would stop doing anything to protect that schizo. The princess let go of the greasemonkey and put her earbuds in again, looking for a song to play. _Katy Perry? Ariana Grande? Taylor-_

"This is why everyone hates you." Lana whispered bitterly.

It was quiet, so quiet that Lola barely heard it over the sounds of the music, the engine, and the wind whipping by.

 _Girl you gotta love your man  
Girl you gotta love your man  
Take him by the hand  
Make him understand_

"Not everyone." Lola whispered to herself. "Not yet."

* * *

Lola lead the pack of sisters into Lincoln's room, almost knocking over an old doctor standing in their way.  
There he was, leaned back and reading an old magazine. His eyes met hers. Blue met blue. Lola smiled and tackled him into a hug.

"Hey." Lincoln said. "Careful, you might break something again."

"I missed you so much, Lincy!" Lola gushed.  
"Me too!" Lily slammed into him with an 'oof', followed immediately by Lucy.  
"Sigh. Welcome back to the world of the living." The goth drawled, her tight hug betraying her true feelings.  
Lana was last in line, though her hug was no less strong. "Good to see you up and at em, Linc!" She gave a forced smile.

Their parents followed them into the room. "Give us a turn, girls." Mom scolded, breaking apart the sibling hug. They hugged Lincoln next, Mom kissing him on the forehead and Dad ruffling his hair.

"So, how's the food here?" Dad asked.

"Awful." Lincoln shuddered. "Everything needs salt."

"Shoot, I should have brought some oatmeal." Dad sighed.

Lincoln waved him off. "It's fine, I'll be home soon, right?"

Dad scratched his head. "I don't know." He looked at the old doctor "Will he?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "His burns should heal completely in the next two to three weeks."

A chorus of complaints erupted from the family before he held up his hand.

"But we should be able to send him home after a few days, no more than a week."

The doctor covered his ears from the sound of the family cheering.

"Are you people always so loud?" he grumbled.

"You should hear us when the whole family is together." Mom laughed.

"Whole family? How many kids do you have?"

"Eleven." boasted Dad proudly.

"Eleven?!" The doctor shook his head and trudged away. "Have these people never heard of condoms?" Lola faintly heard him mutter to himself.

The Louds crowded around Lincoln again and started chatting aimlessly.

"Think you can tough it out for a few days here?" Lana asked.

"I don't know if I can make it if lunch is anywhere near as bad as breakfast." said Lincoln.

"We'll bring you some real food, right Dad?" Lily chirped.

"Sure, I'll whip up some peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches for tomorrow." said Dad.

Lola gagged. How did her brother eat that stuff? Lincoln seemed happy though with the promise of his disgusting sandwiches.

"And I'll try to finish my photo album soon! You'll love it!" Lily promised.

"Photo album? Of what?" he encouraged her with a smile.

"Of all my favorite pictures of us as a family!"

"Family?" Lincoln suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked around. "Uh, aren't we missing someone?" He asked.

Lola scanned the room. "Nope, we're all here. Mom, Dad, Lily, Lana, Lucy, and of course, me!" She gave him a pageant winning smile.

Lincoln forced a smile of his own. "And it's great to see you guys again, but where's Lisa? I really need to talk to her."

Lola frowned.

* * *

It'd been three days and Lisa still hadn't visited him. Everyone else visited him at least once a day, many times twice, but not her. Lincoln was starting to get worried.

Lisa...cared about him, didn't she?

Lincoln wanted to slap himself. Of course she cared. Lisa might be a little more guarded with her feelings but she wasn't some kinda sociopath. There had to be some reason why she was staying away from him. Lincoln asked his parents why she didn't want to see him. They said she was sick with something and had been vomiting for the past few days.

"Why doesn't she just cure herself?" Lincoln asked confused. This was _Lisa_ , the smartest person in the world. She could come up with a cure for any disease in an hour. Why would some stupid stomach bug keep her down?

Then they told him about how she made a promise to never experiment again and locked up all of her old inventions in the April Fool's bunker.

Lincoln felt torn. On the one hand she promised she'd do the same thing after he left for college, on the other she had to be struggling to quit cold turkey, _and_ now she might be sick because it. Lincoln still wasn't totally convinced she _was_ sick, though. Even if Lisa had given up her science she was still a very clean person, she'd know better than anybody how to stay healthy and avoid germs. But if she wasn't sick what was it?

 _Is she scared I'm angry at her?_ That thought terrified him. He didn't want his little sister to think he hated her guts for what happened. All Lincoln could do at this point was wait until he could go home and try to talk to her himself.

His other sisters did their best to try to make up for Lisa's absence.

* * *

Lily, true to her word, brought in an album of family pictures. Dozens upon dozens of pictures of them, actually.

"I thought you said you were only going to put in your favorites?" said Lincoln.  
"Uh, I _did_." Lily blushed and looked away "But it was really hard to pick out my favorites so I just put most of them in there."

Lincoln smiled at his littlest sister's antics and turned the page before quickly frowning.

"Lily? Where did you find this one?"  
"Huh?" The little photographer peered over the top of the scrapbook. "Oh! Luan sent me that one when I told her what I was doing."  
"Of course she would." Lincoln grumbled to himself as he stared at the embarrassing picture. That was one Christmas party he wanted to forget forever.

* * *

Lana brought in Hops and Geo and had them run(or hop) around on his chest as they talked about her new project to fix Vanzilla. Lincoln could tell something was bothering her, but she still had that spark in her eyes when she was talking about fixing things.

"She needs new fuel injectors, a new battery, pistons, valves…" Lana paused. "You know what, we should probably just get a new engine. It'd save us alot of trouble."  
"We're not going to crash, or explode, or get stuck on the side of the road on the way home are we?" Lincoln asked worriedly.  
Lana snorted. "Nah, she's still got a little time before that could ever happen." She beamed. "And don't worry, if anything happens I'll be there to fix it!"

Somehow Lincoln didn't feel reassured.

* * *

Lola showered him in glitter dusted cards every visit.  
 _Where did she get all of that glitter?_ Lincoln wondered as he tried to rub it off his bandages.

His little sister sat by his bedside and chatted with him as she lazily painted her fingernails.

"When you get out of here I was thinking we could go to the arcade-" Lola suggested. "-or we could play videogames, or read comics in our undies, or-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Lincoln held up his bandaged hands. "What's up with you?"

Lola cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"We haven't hung out in forever and now all of a sudden you want to do everything with me?" said Lincoln.

Lola looked at him with strange mix of emotions on her face. "You almost died, Lincoln."

"Well, when you put it that way I guess it makes sense." Lincoln scratched his head awkwardly. _Great job, Linc.  
_ Sure Lola was acting a little weird but it wasn't every day your brother was put in the hospital.  
"Uh, when I get out of here we should definitely hang out." Lincoln continued. "But maybe we should do something else. I haven't been to the arcade in years and we're both a little too old to be reading comics in our undies."

"But you still play videogames, right?" questioned Lola.

"I do." Lincoln nodded.

"Then how about we do that?"

"Uh, I don't think you'd like the kind of games I play." Lola didn't seem like the kind of person that would like Devil May Cry or God of War.

"There's only one way to find out." Lola declared, hands on her hips. "You're going to teach me how to play one of your games, got it?"

Lincoln gave a small smile. "If you say so."

* * *

Lucy used him as an audience to read her poems to, just like always. She didn't seem to care at all about his condition.

 _ **'Black as tar, dark as night, the endless abyss that eats all light...'**_

This current poem was about a boy on a journey to the end of the world. Lincoln lay in his bed enraptured by the story. Lucy had grown into a real poet in the past seven years, winning

 _ **'The void awaits, but not just yet, will the boy...'**_ Lucy paused. "That's where I left off. I can't think of something that rhymes with yet."

Lincoln started forward. This was the first time she asked for help in the past hour. "Yet, huh? Hmm. Met, vet, get, let..." he listed. "But those don't really fit. How about forget?"

"Forget?" Lucy pulled out her black pen and started scribbling in her poem book. In minutes she was finished and read the finished poem aloud.

 _ **'The void awaits, but not just yet, will the boy ever forget-**_

 _ **Of the living world, of dearest home,**_

 _ **That place where he was never alone.**_

 _ **It was not yet his time,**_

 _ **To leave them forever and become undying,**_

 _ **And so he turned and began to walk,**_

 _ **White hair lighting the way,**_

 _ **He knew he would be back again,**_

 _ **One day soon, but not today.'**_

"What do you think?" the goth asked expectantly.

"I really like that one." said Lincoln. "The boy sounds a little familiar, though, doesn't he?"

"The best poems take inspiration from the poet's life."

* * *

Lincoln stretched his arms after the last family visit. God, he was so uncomfortable like this.

His burns didn't hurt(probably cause they were pumping him full of drugs) but they _did_ itch, especially right after they changed his bandages.

Lincoln fought the urge to scratch himself again. The nurse(Jenny, he learned her name was) had lectured him about a dozen different reasons why he shouldn't scratch himself but right now he didn't care. Just one little itch wouldn't hurt, would it?

Lincoln glanced at the door. The coast was clear. He reached for his right forearm-

-and instantly had his hand slapped. Nurse Jenny was there by his bedside in a flash.

"Ow!" Lincoln groaned.

"What did I tell you?" She put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look.

"No scratching." Lincoln recited.

Jenny nodded. "That's right. The last thing you want to do is reopen your wounds."

"Where did you even come from?" Lincoln whined. "Even Lucy can't sneak up on me like that anymore."

Jenny smiled at him cryptically. "Us nurses have our ways." She turned back to checking his IV bag. Which reminded him...

"Uh, Jenny?" he asked the nurse.

"Yeah? Need something?" said the nurse with her back to him.

"I don't want to sound like a dick, but I'd like to take a piss standing up again, if that's okay." said Lincoln. He didn't want to pee with _that thing_ in his dick again.

Jenny chuckled. "Alright, I'll just remove your catheter then."

She moved her hands towards his crotch causing Lincoln to instinctively cover it with his hands.

Jenny smiled teasingly. "What's that? Don't want me to take it out now?"

"N-no." Lincoln blushed and lowered his hands. _This is so embarrassing_. "J-just do it quick, okay?"

The nurse winked at him. "Quick is my middle name."

* * *

Lincoln wouldn't lie, that had to be the greatest piss he'd ever taken in his entire life.

He flushed the toilet and moved to wash his hands before remembering they're bandaged up. Lincoln sighed. He wouldn't have to keep wearing these at home would he? Great they were starting to itch again. He wished that these stupid burns would just heal already so he wouldn't have to put up with this torture.

Then, as if someone flipped a switch, the itching stopped.

It didn't slowly fade away or become tolerable, no, it just completely disappeared. There one second, gone the next. Poof.

Lincoln pressed down on his arm. He could _feel_ that. He curled his toes. He could feel that too. He pinched himself in the stomach. _And_ that.  
His body wasn't numb anymore, he felt normal again.

What the heck just happened?

Lincoln started unwrapping the bandages on his right arm.

"You alright in there?" came Jenny's voice from the door.

"I'm fine, just give me a second!" said Lincoln.

His hand looked good. Scratch that, it look great. No burns, no scars, nothing. It was all new, pink skin.

"Huh." Lincoln blinked. "That's weird."

He continued unwrapping his entire right arm, bandages coiling at his feet.

Lincoln gaped at the sight. His whole arm was completely healed!

"Hey Jenny. How long did you say it'd take for my burns to heal?" called Lincoln.

"At least another two to three weeks. Why?"

Lincoln flexed his fingers. "Well, it looks like I've got the world record."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"I'll show you in a second, let me just-" A sudden wave of nausea hit Lincoln and he started swaying in place.  
Vision blurred and a chill went down his back as he staggered towards the toilet. Lincoln doubled over the toilet bowl and started vomiting out all of the awful hospital food that was in his stomach. This was followed by a lot of stomach acid before he ran out of that too and started dry heaving.

Lincoln stayed kneeling by the toilet for the next ten minutes, gagging and gasping. He only stopped long enough to stop the nurse from coming inside("I'm fine, really!"). When his stomach was completely empty Lincoln stood up and wiped his mouth. _Nasty._ He thought with a grimace.  
Just before Lincoln could flush the disgusting mess down the toilet he saw something that made his fingers freeze on the lever.

There were dents in the toilet seat.

Finger shaped dents.

Lincoln blinked before pressing his fingers into them. A perfect fit.

"Now that's really weird." he said aloud.

Lincoln struggled to process what just happened. He looked at his hands, his completely healed hands, then at the toilet seat which he just molded like clay. No, that's impossible. He couldn't have... _that_. The experiment failed didn't it? It had to be some freak hallucination or something. Maybe the doctors gave him a little too much codeine? Yeah, that had to be it.

Lincoln slapped himself. What the hell was he doing? He might actually have superpowers and here he is trying to talk himself out of it? Ace Savvy would be disappointed. But how could he prove it was real? He had to be sure somehow. Lincoln scanned the bathroom for something else he could use to test it. Rip off the toilet from the floor? Sure, _that_ wouldn't raise any questions.

His eyes locked onto something on the wall.

"Aha!" he cried as he reached for the metal support bar. With less effort than it'd take to peel an orange he wrenched it off the wall. Lincoln gaped. _Holy shit it actually worked!_ He cradled the bar in his hands. _It doesn't even weigh anything!_

He gave an experimental squeeze, the metal squishing under his fingers. That confirmed it alright. _What else can I do?_ Lincoln wondered as he started bending the bar, twisting and stretching it like playdoh. The metal was just so easy to work with. Even Ace Savvy didn't make it look so easy.

"Lincoln? Are you okay in there?" called Jenny from outside the door.

Lincoln froze. Shit, he should probably fix this before she came in. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me a second." He called back as he hurried to straighten out the bar and stab it back into the wall. Lincoln winced at the cracks spider webbing in the wall. There was obviously some damage, but they wouldn't be able to figure out what caused it. Probably.

* * *

Lincoln had to fight to contain his excitement as he exited the bathroom and laid back down in his bed.

It was official: he had superstrength. The new superhuman grinned to himself. "Lisa's gonna freak."

* * *

AN: Shifted the focus a bit from Lisa to Lincoln. Still not completely satisfied with this chapter but I've been pushing it off for too long.  
Sorry again for the long wait, I'm a notorious procrastinator. The next chapter won't take anywhere near as long as this one don't worry. Once the story actually gets into swing things will move alot quicker.


End file.
